Easter in Italy 🐣

Traditions, Processions, and the Sweetness of Colombia cake

Buona Pasqua tutti! Easter in Italy is in full swing. Preparations for the celebrations have been happening all over the country, many Italians are in vacation mode with a full week of vacation surrounding the holiday.

Easter is a really exciting time of year in Italy, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about what is going on.

Easter is the most important holiday on the Catholic calendar (nope, it’s not Christmas), celebrating the resurrection of Christ. As with Christians all over the world, Italians finish out the Lenten season first with Palm Sunday. Domenica delle Palme is a minor event compared with Easter, but it is considered the third most important holiday on the calendar. It celebrates the day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem prior to his arrest and crucifixion. Catholic Churches hand out palm fronds for blessing at mass, but in Sicily they do it in style.

Rather than just having the simple palm frond, Sicilian children take them and braid them in elaborate ways. On one past trip, I saw the market square in Ragusa had stalls selling them in the days before, and in Modica I remember vividly a little boy, maybe about 8 years old, with a display set up on the gate in front of the church. I’m a sucker for kids selling handmade things, so I asked the little boy to pick out one for me that he made himself. For €3 I got a little work of art to bring into church for the blessing.